Cold
by OrangeGirlExplosion
Summary: After being hijacked by thieves, Moonbay is left in the cold snow of Zi in winter. Contracting hypothermia, she has little chance. But chance of survival increases when she is picked up by a black organoid. ~R&R~
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: Don't own anything. Nope, not a thing. .   
  
A/N: 'Nother Raven/Moonbay story. Geeze, I hope I'm not smothering anybody. But since I said I would put some more stories about them up, I decided on this one. Oh yeah! I started a Raven group in Yahoo! It's Raven the Dark! Check it out.  
  
  
  
  
  
" When I get free, I'm gonna smash your face in!!"  
  
Moonbay couldn't believe the situation she was in. It had happened so fast, she didn't have time to defend herself or run. It wouldn't have mattered though; they had a Pteras and a GunSniper; plus the fact it was -22* outside. She would stand no chance of getting away.  
  
These people, whoever they were, were holding her as a hostage. They had taken over her Gustav and were currently on their way from the military base she was supposed to go to. They had taken two Dark Horns and one of them had a Storm Sworder.  
  
It was a simple plan. Hijack a transporter, use their Gustav to get into a base, hold them as a hostage until they got their goods, leave the base and kill the transporter. She knew it well. This was one of the few times she wished she did listen to Irvine and carry more guns with her.  
  
Unfortunately, she didn't. And she only had a matter of time before one of them came back in the storage room and off'ed her. She had worked the ropes on her wrists and ankles until she chafed. But they seemed to only get tighter. She had to find something to cut them or she would be in big trouble.  
  
" Think transporter girl. Think." She said to herself.  
  
Looking around the storage bay, she spied something shiny in the crate next to her.  
  
" Yes!" She whispered to herself.  
  
She kicked the crate until it broke open. Out tumbled a missile. Dismissing the immediate danger, she backed up against it and rubbed her binds against on of the wings on its tail. She had to get out of there fast.  
  
Finally free of her restraints, she shed the ropes. Spying a detonator in the corner, Moonbay formed a plan.  
  
***************  
  
" Kou, are you sure it was a good idea to leave that transporter back there with the ammo?"  
  
" Don't question me Sion. This is MY operation. I do what I want in MY operation."  
  
" Yes sir."  
  
" Of course, if you want off this operation, you lose your Dark Horn and your %20 of the money."  
  
" Oh, no! I still want in! I do! I do! I was just making sure! That's all!"  
  
" See that it is."  
  
***************  
  
Moonbay finished connecting the detonator and made sure everything was in place. She walked over to the door and keyed the open code. They were moving fast, but since the bomb was near the engine, it wouldn't last long. The snow would mitigate her fall.  
  
Fingering the detonator, she looked back once. Sadly, she nodded and decided it was for the best. She needed to get out of there and away from these people. Even if it meant blowing the Gustav up. At least she knew she'd take care of them too.  
  
" Goodbye Gustav. You've taken great care of me. You'll always be my favorite ZOID. Adios." She said wiping away a tear.  
  
She jumped out the door. When she hit the ground, it was a lot harder than she thought it would be. It knocked the wind out of her. Her body rolled and tumbled as she fell down the slight incline.  
  
When she finally stopped, she stood on her hands and knees. Looking at the Gustav again, she narrowed her eyes and pressed the button.  
  
*BOOOOOM*  
  
***************  
  
" What was that?!"  
  
Kou and Sion were rocked violently by the blast. And stronger ones came that almost knocked them down.  
  
" What's going on down there?!" Said the SS pilot.  
  
" We don't know! That girl must of detonated one of the missiles!!" Kou said.  
  
" I told you that leaving her there was a bad idea!" Sion shouted.  
  
" Oh shut up!!" He yelled.  
  
" We have to get out of here!! Those bombs are going to hit the engines and blow the Dark Horns away!!" Sion said.  
  
" Fine! Eject!" Kou ordered; strapping himself in.  
  
" What about the girl?" He asked.  
  
" What about her? If she survives, the cold will kill her." He said.  
  
Both ejected as the Gustav rolled on. The explosions continued until they reached the Dark Horns and the engine. Then there was a huge devastating ka- boom. It shocked the terrain ferociously.  
  
*****************  
  
Moonbay was thrown 10ft. from the incline by the blast of the discharge. She landed on a rock stomach-first. When she landed, she heard the crack of her rib cage. Something was broken, she knew.  
  
Groaning, she pulled herself up and starting walking away from the still volatile Gustav. It would be a hard, cold trek to the next town, but she couldn't stay there with the hijackers there looking for her for blowing apart their plans. She had to find shelter and help.  
  
*****************  
  
After a few hours of no civilization, Moonbay was extremely cold. She cursed the hijackers for throwing out her blankets and warming supplies. She knew she had hypothermia. She just didn't know how badly. She could barely see straight. She stumbled like a crazy animal until she just fell in the snow.  
  
" S-s-s-so cold." She said.  
  
Curling into a fetal position, she tried to conserve heat. But she continued to shiver violently. She didn't even remember how she got out there. She just tried to stay warm.  
  
*****************  
  
CLUNK. CLUNK. CLUNK.  
  
Shadow was bored. Raven told him to go find some firewood or something, but he was still fed up. There was nothing to do. He was tired of pacing in their cave and he wanted to do something. So Raven told him to go find something to destroy.  
  
The cold was no problem. No nerves, no feeling. He trudged around looking for anyone out he could attack or any sleeper ZOIDS. But he didn't find very much.  
  
Softly growling, he started to make his way back home. But he stepped on something in the snow. It was soft and it made a noise. Curious as to what to was, he brush snow off with his tail.  
  
It was a human.  
  
Tilting his head to the side, he growled. She didn't move except for shivering. He leaned over and nudged her with his nose. She moaned and curled tighter into a ball.  
  
This didn't look right. Humans didn't have blue lips the last time he recalled. And they didn't just shake like that without any other movement. Thinking maybe she was dead, he started to walk away.  
  
" Wait... Please... D-Don't g-g-go." She said weakly.  
  
Shadow turned around. She was reaching out for him. But her arm fell to the ground as she couldn't hold it up anymore. Walking back over to the girl he nudged her hand. She moved a little and touched his nose.  
  
Deciding since he didn't know what was wrong and maybe Raven would, he opened his chest panels and wrapped the girl in tubes and closed it. He then opened his wings and flew away. At least things wouldn't be so boring anymore. 


	2. Lark and a Raven

A/n: Sorry this took so long. I wrote two Yugioh stories entitled "Liar Liar", and " High Priest in Slave's Clothing". They were hits! I've got 131 reviews on the slave one and 92 on the Liar one. So I just got swamped, not mention school. So here you go. And 'Kuroi Tenshi' is not dead. Just on hiatus as well as 'Pawn'.   

End transmission…….

When Moonbay regain consciousness, she could hear things. There was a fire burning next to her. And the sound of metal shuffling. She couldn't tell exactly what was going on. She didn't even remember who she was at the moment. 

Something warm was brought to her mouth. She tried to sit up and take it in, but her body wouldn't cooperate. A strong arm came around the small of her back and lifted her up. She muffled a cry of pain as her rib cage began to sting fiercely. Smooth, gloved fingers brushed ice and strands of hair out of her face. Her eyelids fluttered when ice was swept away. She tried to open them, but she didn't even have the energy to do that.

Once again, the warm liquid was brought up to her lips, her mouth opened just a little and the tepid fluid entered her mouth. It tasted really good, but then again, being as cold as she was, she would have drunken motor oil if it were warm enough. 

It felt great going down her dry and cold throat. It was a soup of some kind. It was really good and she drank acquisitively. She started to drink too much and coughed. The same hand on her back patted it softly until she stopped. She didn't know who was helping her; maybe it was Van or Irvine. Whoever they were, they were very gentle. 

It was then she realized she was wrapped in something warm. Something hard was next to her and it seemed to be purring. There was another presence in the place where she was too. 

" Who is that?" She was surprised at the weak and painful tone of her voice. She didn't remember sounding like that for a long time.

She received no answer. Only a smooth, leather-clad finger pressed over her dry, cracked lips. Whoever they were didn't want her to speak. Her throat hurt a lot too, so she had no complaints. 

Again, the hot soup was given to her. She drank all of it, albeit more slowly than before. When she had finished, she had dared to open her eyes and see her savior.  

Unfortunately, Moonbay could only stand the light from the fire dancing off the walls for a few seconds. All she saw of her savior was his outline in the light. His hair was a little on the long side, but not too long. He had somewhat of a muscular tone; though not bulging with muscles. She could not see his face, but she thought he gave her a small smile. Then he turned to leave.

" W-Wait," She numbly reached out to him," D-D-Don't g-g-go."

Just as her hand was falling, he caught hold of it. Moonbay shivered at the difference in the temperature between her hand and the gloved-have holding hers.

" Fine," He placed her hand back down," I won't go."

*************************

Raven sat idly by the woman that Shadow had brought in. He wasn't sure why he was bothering with her at all. It wasn't his job to take care of every Jane, Mary and Dawn. He was just taking care of himself, Shadow and business. Besides, he wasn't completely sure, but he knew he had seen her somewhere before. 

 But Shadow had come in with her inside of him. He wouldn't go get any firewood until he heard Raven promise he wouldn't kill her and he would take care of her until he came back with the wood and the food. They were bad off as it was; being in a bad snowstorm and having everything stored in the Geno Breaker outside. 

Nevertheless, he kept his word to the black organoid and when he returned, the girl was still alive and wrapped in his blanket. He kept one of the emergency blankets for himself and finished bundling up the girl with the others. 

Raven then made himself something to eat. He intended to sleep after that, but Shadow whined about giving the girl food, so he fixed her something too. He honestly didn't know why his organoid had become attached to this person all of a sudden. He even went so far to threaten him when he pulled out his knife to slit her throat when he first brought her in. Why she meant so much to him, he didn't know.

While he sat there, waiting for the girl to get to sleep, he looked her over. Brown cocoa skin and black hair in a long braid covered in ice in some places. Even though she was still covered with ice in a few other places, she looked like she was really pretty.

Raven shook his head furiously. He didn't mean that. That wasn't what he meant to think. She didn't mean anything to him. He would just have Shadow take her back to wherever she came from when she got better. 

She was not his responsibility. 

***********************

Later on that night, Moonbay was having a dream. It seemed to be a bad one for she was tossing and turning a lot. Every time she rolled the wrong way, her ribs screamed in pain. She whimpered; both from the pain and for the dream.

_Moonbay dreamed she was a bird. A lark to be exact. She was perched on a branch in a sakura tree in a sakura grove. The sun was high in the sky on a cloudless day. It was so pretty. Her friends were there too. Fiona was a cardinal. Irvine was a mocking bird. Van was a blue jay. And Thomas was a peacock on the ground.    _ 

She began to sing her song. All the others stopped to listen to her tweet and chirp happily bopping to her music. Moonbay enjoyed herself as she sang out for them.

_But then, clouds moved in. They blocked out the sun and the sky became overcast. It looked like it was going to rain. The wind blew hard and howled like a banshee. Moonbay had to hang onto the tree tightly. Thomas blew away. Irvine, Van and Fiona flew for cover. _

_Moonbay flew off her tree to go after them, but six shadows appeared in the sky. She looked up to see if they were some small planes or something. But they were big, very big hawks. Six big hawks and they were coming after her. She had to turn around and fly in another direction; preferable away from them._

_Unluckily, they were much faster than she was. Poor Moonbay could barely stay ahead of them and she was beginning to get tired. The wind didn't seem to hinder them at all. She had to land on a cliff to rest. She couldn't fly another inch._

_The six hawks landed on the ground in front of her; her back to the cliff. If they attacked and she fell off the edge, she would not be able to save herself. _

_They advanced on her. Razor sharp beaks and talons glinted with a flash of lightening. They seemed to be smiling like they enjoyed her cowering under them. She backed up a little; still panting from her flight to the cliff. _

**_*Swoosh_**_* _

_A black flash swooshed in front of Moonbay. It hit one of the hawks. They squawked as they were hit hard and fell to the ground dead. Then the others were dealt with in the same manner. Moonbay watched in wonder as this happened. As the last hawk fell, her savoir was revealed. _

_It was a raven._

Moonbay sat up in a cold sweat and immediately regretted it. Her ribs were still broken and they still hurt. She placed her hand over her ribs and moaned in pain. It really hurt.

" What now?"

She turned to see the outline of her savior again. The fire was out and it was too dark to see anymore. He was lying next to her, but at the moment was sitting up.

" Did you have a bad dream? You were making a lot of noise." 

She tried to speak, but it hurt too much. She couldn't tell him her ribs hurt too much. But then she realized. That voice. Moonbay knew that voice. Where she knew it from she couldn't place but she knew it. 

" You're injured." 

Moonbay turned at the shifting. He was moving next to her. He moved her hand from where she was holding her rib cage and felt it himself. Moonbay winced as he checked her. 

" You have 3 broken ribs."

*********************

Raven sat behind the nameless female; working in candlelight to tape her ribs. The light went up to his nose and his hair and darkness hid his face. He didn't know she was injured. She was going to need someone to take care of her. Knowing Shadow that was probably going to be him.

" What's your name girl?" He continued to tape her midsection.

" Moon….Moonbay." 

He grunted in response. Raven couldn't begin to imagine why he cared what happened to this girl and why he let her stay this long. He could get rid of her right now if he wanted too. But he couldn't. Something was telling him not to do it. So he just settled for her silence and continued to bind her abdomen.

     


	3. Touch

Moonbay and her savior had been up most of the night taking care of her damaged ribs. They sat in silence as the tape wrapped around her midsection over and over again. The erythematic dance of _wrap, wrap, pull. Wrap, wrap, pull, _was all she heard for a while. 

But she soon couldn't stand the silence anymore. She wanted to know who her savior was. She wanted to know who was helping her and taking her. They were so gentle, though unorthodox. And she didn't recognize their touch. 

" I'm finished. Go back to sleep." Her savior moved away from her and started putting the medical supplies away. 

" Wait." She whispered. 

He stopped moving. " What?" 

She carefully turned around to face him. His face was still partially hidden by his black hair. The light of a candle only made the bottom of his face visible. His skin was pale; the bottom of a red mark was on his right cheek. His mouth was set in a line. 

" Who are you?" 

She heard him shift around. He was going back to his sleeping bag and going back to sleep without telling her. But she couldn't wait anymore. She needed to know who he was.

She reached for his gloved hand as he moved. " Please? I'd just like to know who it is helping me."

*************** 

Raven looked at Moonbay in front of him. He didn't know how she would act if he told her who he was. She might not want his help. She might be afraid of him. And for some reason, that bothered him. 

He didn't want her to run away or fear him. She needed help and would not make it on her own. If she stumbled around out there, who knows what or who might find her? 

And why was he caring all of a sudden?! He didn't give a ZOID core about anyone but himself and Shadow, why was he starting to be compassionate now? Why was he still helping her? And why couldn't he turn down those pleading eyes?

" My name…is Raven." 

**************** 

Moonbay gasped. Her savior was the person that she had feared might find her in the first place. He had made attempts on the lives of herself and her friends. He destroyed bases all by himself. He would even go so far as to destroy his ZOID to win a battle. She couldn't believe it. Her knight in shining armor was

_Raven._

But still, she wasn't as scared as she figured she should be. She should fear for her life. She should run and try to get away from him while he wasn't attacking her. She should get help or alert the nearest army base or go to the nearest city. She should be terrified right now! 

But, she wasn't.

In fact, all she wanted to do was go to sleep now. She did just want to know who had saved her. Then that brought a question. Why did Raven rescue her? Well, Shadow helped too. He must have carried her here she figured. 

She didn't fear him. She wasn't afraid of what he might do to her. She didn't trust him completely, but she didn't distrust him either. He had been gentle when he could have been violent. He was taking care of her when he could have killed her.  

" You're Raven?" 

" Yes."

Moonbay let go of his hand and reached her hand to touch his face. He backed away at first, but when her fingers brushed against his cheek, he froze. 

She traced the red mark on his cheek with her fingertips. It was like a dream. He was Raven and he was really in front of her; taking care of her. 

When she pressed her hand completely against his cheek, he closed his eyes and made a content 'mmm' noise. He leaned into her warm touch. He was like a child with its mother. 

Now she had no idea what possessed her to want to touch him, but Moonbay did. She knew if he responded like this to her touch, then he couldn't be all bad. He had to have some humanity left in him if he was taking care of her and this proved it. 

Suddenly, Raven opened his eyes and jerked away from her as if he had been stung. He fell backwards onto his sleeping bag and scrambled away from her. 

" Raven-" She stood shakily and reached out for him again.

" Don't touch me!" He smacked her hand away and retreated to the back of the cave. 

Shadow was awake by now. He uncurled himself and looked up to Moonbay to see what was going on. She looked down at him with confusion in her eyes. Had she done something wrong?

*********************

Raven sat in the back of the cave. He was slumped against the wall and watching the water run from a small river inside the cave. He was actually thinking about what had just happened.

He unconsciously put his hand where Moonbay's hand had been. It still tingled. Her touch was so warm and affectionate. It was like his mother's. 

That's why he jumped away from her. 

Her touch reminded him of his mother.  So gentle and alluring. And he couldn't think of his parents now. Not now. Not when he was so close to destroying all the ZOIDs and still had to destroy Van Flyheight. He couldn't afford to be distracted now. 

But the tingling sensation didn't go away.


	4. The Morning After

Moonbay didn't know what it was that she had done to make Raven run off? Did she touch an old battle wound? Did she get too close? Did she hurt him? She wished he'd talk to her; at least yell at her or something like that. She could deal with that just fine. But she couldn't deal with silence. She wasn't used to it.

" What's wrong with him Shadow? You know him better than anyone. Did I do something wrong? Was I not supposed to touch him? Tell me please."

The black organoid looked back at her with its blue eyes; silent. It was contemplating an answer to her question. He never had to any an emotional question before. No one ever asked him about Raven. He was slightly flattered that she treated him as a living thing and not just a weapon and great tool.

But he didn't know what was wrong with Raven. He didn't tell him anything. He was just as confused as she was on the subject of their ebony-haired pilot. He never saw him act that way. Only when Reese had brought back his memories of his parents did he even remotely act anything similar. He wondered idly if she had inadvertently triggered a memory and that's why he ran?

That had to be it. That was the only thing Raven was sensitive about; other than losing to someone like Van. Other than that, he was a pretty much an insurmountable mountain. You weren't getting over Raven unless he wanted you too or you had helluva determination. 

Hoping to comfort the female that obviously was starting to depend on him as Raven had unconsciously been doing for all the years he'd known him, Shadow curled up around Moonbay and rocked her steadily until she calmed down and finally slept. She would need her strength to heal her injuries and deal with whatever sickness she may catch from this whole ordeal. 

*******************

When Raven had finally gathered himself enough to be able to face the semi-hypothermic girl and returned to the front of the cave, it was sun up. He had spent the most of the night chucking rocks into the water and thinking of his parents and trying to remember the good times he actually had with them.

What he saw when he reached the front of the cave was certainly a surprise to him. Shadow and Moonbay curled up together near the smoldering fire; trying to keep warm and sleeping. It wasn't like Shadow to warm up to someone like that. He cared about this girl enough to snap at him and take care of her himself. 

" Well, that's a first." 

He decided he needed to rekindle the fire first. He didn't need the girl getting sick all over again now that she could actually begin to talk. She would need to stay warm all the time until she was able to do so herself. He would need firewood and food from the rations in his ZOID. Or he could always go hunting. 

Raven smiled good-naturedly at the prospect of hunting. Using a rifle and actually sitting and waiting for the perfect time to take his shot on an animal. Using a ZOID was an unfair advantage and he didn't want to hunt that way. He preferred using a gun, camouflage, maybe a bow and usually Shadow as his partner, but someone had to stay and protect Moonbay. 

" Moonbay…Who are you?"

He knew he knew that girl. She knew him, but that was to be expected with his rep. and all. He racked his brain for any sort of memory of who she might be, but again he came up empty. He usually didn't keep very many memories of people in his mind. Merely military tactics and things he needed to remember ABOUT people. Like Van was stupid.

" Heh, heh, heh. Stupid pilot." 

********************

After bagging a large wild boar and dragging back firewood, Raven sat off to the side of Moonbay and Shadow; poking at the fire to get it to satisfactory size. He was cold from his hunting and he wanted to make sure his companions were warm as well. 

He cast a glance over to Moonbay again. He didn't realize that he had been doing that for a while now. He was just waiting for her to wake so she could eat again and take some decs. She would need all the help she could get. 

" Mmm. *Yawn* Raven?" Moonbay rubbed her eyes in a childish manner.

He tore his eyes away from her and grunted in response. " Hn."

" Where'd you go?" She tried to sit up on her own, but failed miserably and grabbed her sides in pain. 

Raven immediately went over to her side and held her from smacking into the cold, unforgiving ground. It would do no good if she just hurt herself all over again. He would have to keep an eye on her and Shadow too. 

Moonbay giggled sleepily and looked up at him." Guess, I'm still sleepy. You're so warm…" She leaned against him and started to go back to sleep on him. It was still early and those who were sick and had injured ribs needed sleep. 

***************** 

Raven panicked a little when Moonbay completely rested against him and relaxed. She totally trusted him not to hurt her and slept on the dark-haired pilot like he was a friend of hers or a boyfriend. 

_Eh? Boyfriend? Where did that come from?_

He shook the thought from his head and cradled the woman in his arms. He couldn't very well put her back down now, she was up and resting too much weight against him. He'd wake her if he moved her too much. 

But this was so unnatural to him. Holding a female in such a way. Reese had done this before, but he had no trouble letting her fall flat on her face into the dirt. In fact, he enjoyed it and did it whenever she put herself in the position.

Moonbay didn't feel as awkward as Reese did. He didn't exactly feel threatened by her touch, as long as she didn't reach for his face again, he would stand human contact again. She wasn't rubbing his chest or trying to romance him. She was just content to sleep against him.

Although this…this was _nice_. She fit perfectly in his arms. She didn't squirm too much as she slept. She didn't snore or twitch in her sleep like some people were prone to do. She didn't drool; though her mouth was slightly ajar. She just snuggled into his chest and sighed as she fell asleep again.

Raven saw his food was almost ready, and while he was still watching over the female, he needed to tend to it. He carefully shifted Moonbay's weight and pulled the food away from the fire. Then he just went back to holding Moonbay. 

Hesitant at first, he ran his fingers over the side of her face; clearing the ice and snow from her cheeks and eyes. Then moving on to clean off anymore-exposed skin before it got frostbitten or worse. They had enough problems as it was. 

After he brushed the ice away from her neck, he used a technique he learned from one of his combat tutors. He was going to increase the blood flow and thereby get her body to warm faster and the person would become more relaxed. At least, that's what he told himself.

Moonbay purred at his caresses and indulged in it. It was nice to have someone pet her like that; even though she was not fully awake. She liked contact too. And this being taken care of, although new, she was beginning to learn to like it. 

And the fact that it was Raven the Dark One taking care of her was something she was starting to like too. He was totally heartless, ne? Especially the way he rushed to help her and keep her from further injuring herself. Maybe there was hope for the Dark One yet. 

She would dwell more on the thought of their starting relationship, but her mind was the only thing functioning properly right now and even it was starting to go. It was best to just give into the slow rocking of the strong arms and the lull of his rhythmatic breathing and sleep the morning off. 

Outside in a clutter of bare sakura trees, a lark and a raven huddle together to remain warm in the cold weather. The raven holding his shadowy wing over the brown lark to protect her first and himself second.


End file.
